War of the Words

Wow! I am simply overwhelmed at the amount of comments (and the passion thereof) in response to my pro-Dubai posts. And as I cannot reply to each comment in the comments section, here’s another entry on the counter-arguments:

This farhaN Nocturnal guy is a real specimen, eh? If you’ve been reading the comments he posts, you can see that – lacking substantial arguments – he resorts to insults. Hehe. People like him make me and my blog visitors laugh. Keep it up, Farhan!

One of his previous comments had *some* substance and I think it deserves a response.

farhaN Nocturnal: My friends's Grand father and Uncles have lived in Dubai for more than four decades.
BPC: Just for the record, this makes the grandfather 70 if he started working at 30, and which makes the uncles 40 if they were *born* there.
farhaN Nocturnal: His grand father is an engineer and he is amognst those ppl who planned and built DUBAI , all his uncles served in very important departments of UAE governemnt. His grand father was an advisor to the UAE kingdom on technical/planning issues.
BPC: MashaAllah. Very nice. And you still say it is a racist place? Weren’t they “brown’”?!! Or were they gora back then and turned “brown” recently?
farhaN Nocturnal: buTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT what they think abt dubai now? they say its not worth living anymore, so two of his uncles have left CRAPY DUBAI.
BPC: The reason these people left Dubai is not because it is crappy, but because Dubai no longer had any use for them. The truth about Dubai is no doubt that it is a city of young people. Most people working in jobs here range form early 20s to late 40s in age. It is very difficult for people beyond that age to work, unless they are already in jobs where they have been for a looooong time. Even then, sometimes, due to the need for annual contract renewal, most get retired by 50 or so in favour of a younger person. Ofcourse, if you are an expert in your field, you just get promoted.

So yes, there might be some substance to this argument, but that doesn’t make Dubai crappy. Slightly ageist maybe, but then, which place isn’t?

Where do these people work now? My guess is, they probably don’t. They have probably converted their Dirham earnings into rupees and are sitting on top of huge property or businesses, and badmouthing Dubai - totally disregarding that this is where they made their wealth.
farhaN Nocturnal: And in answer to the question raised by blog owner that why ppl still lIVING IN DUBAI WHEN THEY DON'T LIKE IT, so MY QUESTION IS TO BLOG OWNER WHY DON'T YOU BURN YOUR GREEN PASSPORT WHEN YOU DONT LIKE PAKISTAN, BUT YOU WONT BURN CUZ YOU R HYPOCRITE TOO.
BPC: What part of me publicly expressing my dislike of my Pakistani passport makes me a hypocrite? Believe me, I will have burned it a long time ago, but the sad truth is that you cannot have NO passport, and the Green passport makes it very difficult to switch to another. I am working on an alternative though, and the day I burn the Green One, I will happily courier you the ashes.

LOL Farhan man, you do make me laugh. I enjoy Sabizak’s posts because she actually seems to write using her brain and not her ass like the guy above. She is new in the UAE … please take note of that … she is NOT living in Dubai. She is living in Sharjah. Therefore, anything she notes as a con of Dubai is actually a con of Sharjah. Being in Dubai and dissing Dubai is like being in Hyderabad and dissing Karachi. Two different cities people. Two different ones!

Sabizak: Many of the places you pointed out I had absolutely no idea existed. Firstly, because I live in Sharjah, not Dubai and secondly like you rightly said I have just been here a month and a half. But even in my first comment I told you my response to the place is pretty emotional at the moment.
BPC: Exactly. And when my mum read these posts, she pointed out to me that I was EXACTLY like this the first time I came to Dubai seven years ago. LOL. I used to spend my whole day crying. You hate any new place as its difficult to immediately find your feet in a new place. And admittedly, Dubai is a VERY difficult place to find your feet in. Sharjah, perhaps moreso.
Sabizak: My ideals in life are far from achieveing 'success' or being 'ambitious' in the capitalistic sense of the word so I do not value these things the way you seem to.
BPC: Quite contrarily, my values are not as far as those that you claim are yours. I harbour no fantasies of being a CEO with a gazillion dirham bonus. All I want is to be able to be a fulltime mom (or work-at-home mom) when I have babies and to be able to send them to good schools when they are old enough, good colleges when they are older and then to be able to retire at 45, so I don’t have to work when I don’t have the energy to.

Dubai lets me do all that. The exchange rate makes it easy for me to invest in a pension plan. There are great schools in the city, and now, there are great colleges too. Most of all, it’s a SAFE place for me to raise my kids.
Sabizak: As for 'low-level jobs' as you put it, I don't think there is any such thing as that. Everyone on earth deserves equal respect from us if they are honest and hardworking and I am sure there are nations in the world that respect that fact.
BPC: What do you mean there is no such thing as a low-level job? You think construction workers and tea boys are working on the same level as a multi-national company’s CEO? Humanity aside, let’s not forget economics and sociology. Society is a balance of low-income, middle-income and high-income people. To claim that these boundaries don’t exist is ridiculous.
Nowhere have I said that low-level workers don’t deserve respect.
Sabizak: As for the third class treatment you asked me to explain about, in the number of times that I have gone to hoity toity stores, like Ikea for instance, i have noticed that the Arabs working there fall all over each other trying to lick the boots of any gora who happens to saunter past them in a one mile radius but will not even as much as smile at you, infact be downright rude, when you ask them for directions or any other help. These may just be assumptions based on chance experiences, i dont know. It may well be so but according the the law of probability random occurences also point towards real statistics, Random Sampling, as they call it.
BPC: Definitely random sampling. I have been to Ikea plenty of times. Infact. All the furniture in my flat is from Ikea. Cheap and cheerful J I have never been treated with disrespect. And let me make another observation based on years of living in the UAE: majority of desis go to these shops to “window shops”. Going to Ikea is a “weekend outing”. They have no intention of spending money. Even as a customer, one can tell who is planning to spend money in the shop and who is merely looking. Most goras and Arabs come inside Ikea to shop. (Their weekend outing might be a day at the beach etc). So when you work as a salesman on commission, who would you rather spend time serving: a windows-shopper or a genuine customer?
Sadly, its because of the “window-shopping” majority of desis that the genuine shopping minority suffers.
Sabizak: As for Liberty Books, go check out their online store and how beautifully it is run, delivering books all over Pakistan for free, i tried looking for some such online store in the UAE and i couldn't even find ONE.
BPC: Go to UAEmall.com for online shopping. THOUSANDS of things. More than just books too. See, you just gotta ask … Dubai’s go it all J
Sabizak: As for parks. I gather you are from karachi thats why you spoke of that but these shadeless palm trees and the sorry excuses that they have for parks here, just go and lose yourself once in Lahore's Lawrence Gardens and you will know what the beauty of a genuinely lovely, tranquil, near to nature park is.
BPC: Err, no, I am not FROM Karachi. I spent just five years there.
Your argument about parks is a bit silly, Sabizak. It’s like me going to Lahore and complaining about there not being any beaches. Or a Swiss coming to Dubai and complaining about there being no snow (though he could find some in the Snow Park at Mall of The Emirates these days!).
Nature varies from region to region. To borrow a quote my good friend D., “surely the world is big enough to accommodate several versions of nature”. Some place have mountains, some don’t. Some are jungles, some are not. Some have deserts, some don’t.
If you see vast stretches of barren land here, then that is the “natural” state of this country. In case you’re forgetting, this is a desert country. It’s not a green area like Lahore, so to expect “natural” parks is ridiculous.
If you want to explore the ‘nature’ of the UAE, then go visit the natural springs at Masafi. A lot closer are the beautiful dunes of the desert all around us. Go trekking in one of the fabulous wadis. If you seek green, head to the greenest part of the UAE: Al Ain. It’s called the Garden City for a reason.
Sabizak: Btw, what do you think about the internet censorship over here
BPC: It’s very good. Keep the kids away form free porn. For people who NEED free access, there are the freezones where NOTHING is censored.
If you are a business and need it all day every day, you can set up an office here. If you are an individual and need a one-off free access, go buy a coffee at one of the coffee shops in the freezone and use the wi-fi. Free Porn!!!!!
Sabizak: the hegemony that Etisalaat enjoys and the subsequent exorbitant rates for calling abroad. And how about those two English rags that pass off as newspapers over here?
BPC: Incase you are forgetting,a second telecoms player Du has just entered the market. A few years ago, there were three English dailies, now thee are six. All changes are gradual. You cannot deny that changes aren’t taking place.
Sabizak: What really ticked me off was the way you chose to show your displeasure towards your country.
BPC: I repeat, it’s not MY country anymore.
Sabizak: It has at least given u the passport that u cannot possibly burn (coz this country will never give u its)
BPC: That’s where you go wrong. Don’t make assumptions based on hearsay.
Sabizak: but I guess Canada and such like would be a good option.
BPC: Over my dead body! I love the weather in this city. I love the proximity to Europe. I love the sense of safety and security. Canada?!! No way!!!
Sabizak: If there is something wrong with our country we cant just merely throw stones at it and then disappear to greener pastures. THATs lazy, getting off our butt and trying to contribute in some positive way, now that requires real effort.
BPC: What do you think Jinnah and his cronies did? Didn’t they convince millions of people to “throw stones at (their country) and then disappear to greener pastures”? Isn’t Pakistan made for people who couldn’t stand living in India?

Pakistan is a country diseased by corrupt politicians and landlord, that has not been able to cure itself for more than half a century. I can’t waste my life trying to heal this ailing beast.

Now for some of the anonymous posters.

Anonymous#1: Are they granting citizenships on the basis of your services or it's still out of question?
BPC: You fulfil certain criteria and you can get citizenship here. Simple.

Anonymous #2: I read you don't want to return to Pakiland then what are your alternatives as you are not welcome in the country who is using your talent?
BPC: What’s your definition of “not welcome in the country that is using my talents”? I feel very welcome here, thankyourverymuch. I have been afforded enough security to be able to work, I have been afforded the opportunity to work in a job well-paying enough to allow me to invest in property, and by buying property, I have been afforded the chance to stay here indefinitely after I retire. If that is this country’s version of “not welcome’, then I can’t to find out what it’s welcome is like!!

Anonymous #3: First low class workers deserve respect too PERIOD.
BPC: I agree.I never said they don’t.
Anonymous #3: Why UAE or other Arab country men aren't up for it?
BPC: The people of the UAE aren’t up for it because their country takes enough care of them for them not to have to work outdoors in the 40 degree summer heat. The UAE’s people don’t work in these jobs because their government PAYS them to go abroad and get higher education so that when they come back, they can work in good jobs.
As for people from other Arab countries, I have no idea. If somebody reading this blog can tell me why all the low-level workers are Pakistanis, Indians, Sri Lankans and Iranians, then I’d be glad!
Anonymous #3: We all know why they hire south asians workers. They are cheap and they have noone in their home country govts to give a shit about them.
BPC: So is it the Emirati’s fault that Asian workers are cheap? Is it the Emirati’s fault that a Pakistaniman’s own government doesn’t give a shit about him, to the extent that he has to leave his own country and family behind and work 14 hours a day? Sorry, but none of this is the Emirati’s fault. If anything, it is the fault of the Pakistani government for not making enough provisions to take care of it’s own poor people.
Anonymous #3: No wonder Saudis and UAE are becoming such a rich society, they are buliding it on the blood of real human beings.
BPC: Really? You think these Arab nations get rich by paying Asian construction workers 1000 dhs a month instead of 1500 Dhs a month? If that is so, then why don’t the Asian countries keep these workers home and make them work there and get rich like the Arab countries?
Anonymous #3: You say there is no racism at your level then why are you not allowed in this club?. http://www.gulfnews.com/tabloid/Special_Report/10042700.html
BPC: That is just one side of the story. I have gone to many, many clubs/restaurants/five star hotels. And I have NEVER been stopped. Of course, if you wear a sari to go to a club, they will stop you. If you are wearing a T-shirt with trousers, they will stop you. If your hair reeks of coconut oil, they will stop you. Who wants to club next to an oil-smooshed, sari clad woman? Not me. If you are clubbing, at least look the part.
I am sorry, I just refuse to listen to these complaints because I have NEVER been denied entry and that says something. I am VERY brown by the way. No one can EVER mistake me for anything but a Desi.


Anonymous #4: Can you read what you write? Woman you are one racist lady.
BPC: Yes, I am, I am the first racist in the whole world to be guilty of racism against people LIKE HERSELF.
Seriously, what part of my comment sounded racist to you? Is any part of what I wrote untrue? How many British construction workers are there? Or Lebanese ones?
And answer a question for me honestly if you believe you are not racist: if you were to share an elevator with a person and they started a conversation with you, would it make a difference to you if the person was a CEO dressed in a suit and ties, or if he was a construction worker in boots and overalls? Which one would you be more likely to exchange contact details with and meet up with a coffee later and perhaps even become friends with?
Not racist my friend, realist.
Anonymous #4: I read your archives and found out you've spent many years in KSA. Wow! how Saudi money spoils mind .. I've heard about but i've seen it too. FYI not everyone born with money. Most people need to earn it to make a living and just to get by. They are not fortunate to have gone to schools or have cars before their 20th birthday. People like you are spoiling Pakistan. Glad India got rid of these kind unless we were too ignorant like too.
BPC: Oh ho ho! Lookie here. You think you have me all figured out, eh? You think I was BORN into money? Well, I shall take that as a compliment.
The truth is quite the opposite actually. The five years we were in Karachi, I used to travel by public buses because I couldn’t afford cab fare. I started earning my own money when I was 18. My first job in Dubai five years ago paid me a measly 4000 Dhs. But I had set my sights high and I knew where I wanted to be aged 25 years.
Alhamdolillah, I am there now. I bought my own car with my own money when I was 23 and at 25 I bought a house. I can afford holidays in Europe now. These are all things that were very, very far-fetched dreams some years ago. I wasn’t born into money, but my parents gave me the best education and the best upbringing and whatever I have today is all earned on my own, with the blessings of my parents and by the grace of Allah.

Think twice before you accuse people of the golden-spoon-syndrome, sweetie. And pay attention when I say people control their own destiny.

Anand L. Pradhan: BPC thinks sabizak is lazy for not finding out stuff and the poor are in their state because of lack of ambition. I have heard more intelligent comments than this in monkey cages. IMHO, her own laziness is gigantic. She wants someone else to burn her passport. Do it now, BPC. Now! And show us that you have your money where your mouth is (or whatever it is you speak with)...
BPC: Let me introduce you to one of the many styles of writing. My comment as pointed out by you was the last line of my entry: a kind of summing up, a retort to the subject discussed in that entry.

I didn’t mean for someone to come and physically assist me in igniting my travel documents, any more than I am requesting you to come here and adhere your lips to me posterior when I say this: KISS MY ASS.

Do you get the point?